Red Life
Red Life is an upcoming American animated series created by Elliot Strange. The show is a reboot of Grojband, using more or less the same characters. A selling point for the series is that it's one of the first animated shows to be involve live action producers. Production Wanting to get back into the television industry, Elliot Strange decided to produce a remake of the Canadian series Grojband. He was never satisfied with the original version, so alongside Cal Clarion, he acquired the rights to the show and was thus able to make a version of his own. He believed that the original series was confusing, and he found Trina to be the most interesting character on the show. To let people know about this new project, Strange, Emerson, Tollin, Kogen and Brian Robbins produced an hour-long special detailing everything that the series will feature. When the first episode was put into production, Robbins was fired from the production team due to creative differences. Plot The premise is near-identical to the original Grojband, only difference is that the roles of Corey and Trina have been switched. It could be considered a spiritual successor to Grojband, as Trina is still getting routinely humiliated by her brother and his band. Aside from constantly dealing with her brother, she is also attempting to re-invent herself and fully regain the trust of her friend Mina. The show follows her daily life and how her temper gets her into trouble, leading to her attempting to fix it and learning a moral towards the end. Characters Main * Trina Riffin (Cristina Pucelli): The older sister of Corey. She suffers from severe anger issues and tries desperately to put an end to her brother's band, but after years of failure, she decides to re-evaulate her life and improve herself. There're times when she gives into her hostile attitude, but she manages to stop before it gets worse. Deep down, she is a nice girl, but years of humiliation and a lack of self-esteem have left her bitter. * Mina Beff (Cathy Cavadini): Trina's on and off best friend. The two have clashed after Mina finally snapped at Trina due to years of abuse, but Trina is currently attempting to repair their friendship. Mina insists that she never hated Trina to begin with and she merely wanted to show her the error of her ways, though Trina hardly listens to this. In spite of their mixed feelings, they still hang out and confide with one another whenever necessary. Allies * David (John Cho and Peter Oldring): Trina's classmate. He secretly has a crush on her, but her fierce temper prevented him from acting on it. Conversely, Trina has little issue with him, save for viewing him as a coward. Trina is very appreciative of David whenever he goes out of his way to do something nice for her. John Cho is his main voice, with Peter Oldring serving as a substitute whenever Cho is unable to participate. * Mr. Rist (David Gasman): The school therapist. Due to Trina's anger issues, she had to visit him frequently. Because of this they have struck a personal friendship and they talk to each other even when it's not necessary. He often helps Trina with her endeavors, no matter how unorthodox they may be. * Troy (Jon Heder): Similar to David, he has a crush on Mina. He and David seem to be an inverted version of Trina and Mina as Troy frequently assists David in whatever he does. Naturally, Troy would be interested in his female equivalent, with the only difference being that Mina doesn't want anything to do with him. Enemies * Corey (Brian Drummond): Trina's younger brother, and the frontman of Grojband. He frequently steals his sister's diary and exploits her emotions in order to write hit songs. Naturally, the two siblings hate each other and they try to sabotage each other's days, with the outcome varying depending on the situation. Corey is one of the three characters from the original series that appear in Red Life. * Dwight (Bumper Robinson): The school bully. His intentions and way of operating change depending on the episode. Some episodes feature him physically assaulting weaker students while others feature him merely insulting them verbally. Within the few interactions he had with Trina, they seem to have a mixed relationship. In his first appearance, he punches Trina in the face, breaking her jaw and nearly killing her, but in Turnaround, he seemingly helps her make it to the dance so she could be with Nick. Dwight's behavior seems to be brought upon by an inferiority complex and torment from previous years. * Miss Corbis (Maggie Roswell): Trina's history teacher. She is often hard on Trina, thanks to a series of mishaps that befell her (unintentionally caused by Trina) and tends to enforce the school's rules to a much higher degree than anyone else. It's implied that she's even more cruel than Trina and Mina and hence, she isn't very popular with her class. Her personality is based on Trina's old personality in Grojband. * Joe and Brian (Paul Greenberg and Adam Paul): Snobbish twins who constantly evoke their superiority to their classmates. They often provoke Trina more than anyone else, but they thankfully get called out on it. Their names are sourced from Joe Davola and Brian Robbins. Reception Critics Common Sense Media gave the shoe 2.5 out of 5 stars, stating "It's serviceable for its intended audience, but there're far too many times when it goes too far." Critics have noticed that the animation has improved from the original incarnation and have praised the writing and humor. Fans The fans of the original Grojband had mixed to unfavorable reactions. They liked how the show spared certain aspects from the original and have praised the animation and characterizations, but they weren't too fond of the role reversals. After the show premiered, their reception became more favorable.